Hugh Freeze replacement candidates at Ole Miss include former Vols coach Derek Dooley

Former Tennessee Volunteers head coach Derek Dooley has been mentioned as one of the candidates to replace Hugh Freeze as leader of the Ole Miss Rebels.

Must Read: Top 10 Vols coaches in school history

He didn’t have the success he wanted to in three years with the Vols. But current Dallas Cowboys wide receivers coach Derek Dooley has been mentioned as a possible name for another SEC job: the Ole Miss Rebels.

On Friday, Jason McIntyre of Fox Sports 1 listed the former Tennessee football coach as a serious candidate to replace Hugh Freeze in Oxford.

Dooley may not have had the wins at Tennessee, but he did a lot of other things right. And he stabilized the ship after the program was on fire.

The failed three-year head coach noted as much in an interview with Clay Travis last summer. He didn’t run from his failures in that interview, but he did note that at Tennessee he inherited a program on probation and was their third head coach in three years.

When you consider the fact that at the same time, the SEC was as tough as it had ever been, Dooley clearly had a very short stick to compete with in the conference.

His experience in righting ships could help him if he got the job at Ole Miss. The Rebels are now in a very bad situation as well after Hugh Freeze’s transgressions.

And he would probably get a longer leash than he had in Knoxville. At the same time, the program is in such bad shape right now that many other coaches might not want to touch it, which could help him if he wants the job.

Next: 10 most talented Tennessee football teams not to win title

The only thing working in the program’s favor is it now has a lot of money to buy a big name. However, given his experience at Tennessee, he may not want to deal with a program on fire like that again.